Investment in EdTech firm qualifies for tax reliefs under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS)

#EdTech platform “Your Favourite Teacher” Company raises capital as Covid-19 sees schools embrace online learning 

Edtech platform Your Favourite Teacher (YFT) is raising capital to expand its operations through Growthdeck, the private equity investment firm, as Covid-19 sees more schools build online learning into their standard curriculum.

Your Favourite Teacher (YFT) is a virtual classroom for GCSE students, which augments and supports the existing Key Stage 4 curriculum with rich video content, automated marking and pupil performance tracking.

Growthdeck says that Covid-19 has sharply accelerated the adoption of remote learning formats, which were already becoming more common in schools prior to the pandemic. A significant number of schools that had not previously embraced online learning are now implementing remote solutions as a core part of their teaching. The number of users on YFT’s platform has almost doubled from February to July 2020.

Shaz Hussain, Investment Director at Growthdeck, comments:

“High net worth investors should be looking for opportunities to back businesses that can meet new coronavirus-driven needs. That’s why we’re backing YFT.”

YFT has already proven popular with both traditional and non-traditional education providers, securing contracts with schools and Premier League football clubs, and it is recommended by Mumsnet, the most popular parents’ website in the UK.

As well as replacing traditional paper-based homework, YFT’s ‘gamified’ structure rewards students for taking ownership of their own progress with coin, badge and certificate collection.

YFT’s platform currently offers 50 high-quality, proprietary courses across core subjects like English language and literature, maths and sciences as well as several other subject areas. 15 further courses are currently under development by YFT’s six-strong staff of in-house qualified teachers.

YFT is led by an experienced senior team with backgrounds in education, technology and financial services, including:

• Founder Kate Meeks, who worked for six years as an English teacher in a challenging state secondary school in Luton before leaving teaching to start YFT. Kate was inspired to launch the business by pupils in her school who were held back from achieving their potential by a lack of access to simple materials like pencils and paper, although all had smartphones
• Commercial Director Matthew Pocock, who has held senior roles at Allianz Global Investors and ICAP as well as ‘robo-adviser’ Nutmeg
• Director Steve Meeks, who has 40 years of experience in major financial institutions including UBS, Natwest and Santander. He is also Executive Chairman of software business Smarter Data Management, which provides energy management solutions to the commercial property industry
• Executive Chairman Fraser Allan, Growthdeck’s representative on the board. Fraser is an entrepreneur with 40 years of experience in branding and marketing and has held CEO, COO and board positions at businesses including SpaceNK, Bang & Olufsen and Liberty of London

Adds Shaz Hussain: “Remote learning started 2020 as the smart option for forward-thinking schools. It has very quickly become an essential tool for every school.”

“Not only has YFT already been adopted by a significant number of secondary schools, it has proven its worth to other organisations like football clubs. They are keen to ensure their young players get an outstanding education under unusual circumstances and YFT has a central role in that.”

The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is an investment scheme which allows private investors to make tax savings by investing in growth businesses, Growthdeck’s investment in your Favourite Teacher qualifies for tax reliefs under EIS.